The potato pivotal discovery

The blight spread to Europe in the s where, because of an extreme lack of genetic diversity, the potato crops were even more susceptible. Over the course of the famine, almost one million people died from starvation or disease.

Ease aches and pains by rubbing the affected area with the water potatoes have been boiled in. Believing this plant must be valuable, many peasants "acquired" some of the potatoes from the plot, and soon were growing the root in their own garden plots.

The plants were from Ireland, so the crop became known as the "Irish potato". Nonetheless, the pests keep coming back. By the early s, almost one-half of the Irish population had become entirely dependent upon the potato, specifically on just one or two high-yielding varieties.

He was so enamored by the potato that he determined that it should become a staple of the French diet.

RHS director general, Sue Biggs, said: It was the invention of the mechanical potato peeler in the s that paved the way for potato chips to soar from a small specialty item to a top-selling snack food.

In exalting the potato, Parmentier unwittingly changed it. Parmentier created a feast with only potato dishes, a concept he realized was possible when he was imprisoned in Germany and fed only potatoes. Parmentier tirelessly proclaimed that France would stop fighting over bread if only her citizens would eat potatoes.

The hand-operated equipment Salie used made about fifty pounds of potato chips per hour. After the middle period of the Qianlong era —96 in the Qing dynastypopulation increases and a subsequent need to increase grain yields coupled with greater peasant geographic mobility led to the rapid spread of potato cultivation throughout China, and it was acclimated to local natural conditions.

As time passed, the potato would become one of the major food stuffs of the world. In Northern Europe there were major crop losses lasting throughout the rest of the 19th century.

To maximize crop yields, farmers plant ever-larger fields with a single crop—industrial monoculture, as it is called. When the bag lands on a susceptible plant, it breaks open, releasing what are technically known as zoospores. The green skin contains a substance called solanine which can cause the potato to taste bitter and even cause illness in humans.

In England, 18th-century farmers denounced S.

The word has an unknown origin and was originally c. Plants propagated from tubers are clones of the parent, whereas those propagated from seed produce a range of different varieties.The potato is a member of the nightshade family and its leaves are, indeed, poisonous.

A potato left too long in the light will begin to turn green. The green skin contains a substance called solanine which can cause the potato to taste bitter and even cause illness in humans.

While the potato was rapidly becoming an important food across Europe, in Ireland it was frequently the only food. Many Irish survived on milk and potatoes alone — the two together provide all essential nutrients — while others subsisted on potatoes and water.

Lay peddled potato chips to Southern grocers out of the trunk of his car, building a business and a name that would become synonymous with the thin, salty snack.

Lay's potato chips became the first successfully marketed national brand. The industry that George Crum launched in continues to grow and prosper. Potatoes are Canada's most important vegetable crop; they are grown commercially in all its provinces, led by Prince Edward Island.

In modern times potatoes have grown in popularity due to their versatility and ability to be used for many different dishes of food. Potato grading for Idaho potatoes is performed in which No. 1 potatoes are the highest quality and No. 2 are rated as lower in quality due to their appearance (e.g.

blemishes or bruises, pointy ends). On this day in history indied Walter Raleigh. Raleigh was a courtier of Elizabeth I, who explored North America looking for gold, but found only potatoes and tobacco. Raleigh was born inin Hayes Barton, Devon, the younger son of Walter Raleigh and his third wife, Katherine.